Todays Education

State Formation and Urbanization

From the Mahajanapadas to Nandas

(BC 600 to BC 321)

mahajanapadas

The post-Vedic period has a unique place in the history of ancient India, characterised as it was by intensification of social stratification, growth of a large number of urban centre’s and the emergence of many states. Each of these was the result of long drawn complex processes with bearings on each other. Further, all these changes did not take place in isolation, rather they were inextricately inter-related. The new emergent system needed some ideological support, which was provided by the new heterodox systems, two of which, namely Jainism and Buddhism, became quite prominent. The orthodox Brahmanism saw many changes creeping in so as to accommodate the emerging patterns.

Gautam-Buddha

          In other to appreciate the problem of state formation and the growth of urbanism it seems necessary to look into the conditions prevailing during the later-vedic phase. Having done this in the previous Vedic age we may now set ourselves to look for the factor contributing to the emergence of a state system i.e. transformation of raja as a chief to raja as the king in the Janapadas. 

Jainism

Economic Background

We know for sure that after AD 800 iron come to be used widely in almost all the areas in India. But till AD 600 it was only used for making weapons. Only after this date iron came to be used in making agricultural and other tools. This period also witnessed a great increase in the number of settlement in the Ganga-Yamuna Doab region. While iron weapons provided the warrior class a more potent tool to consolidate their position in the socio-political field, its use in agriculture resulted in the great expansion of agrarian landscape. Now with the help of iron axes, thick rain-forest of the Doab belt could be easily cleared and settled. The use of iron ploughshare facilitated agricultural operations in a big way. With the help of iron ploughshare the soil could be turned from a relatively deeper levels resulting in increased productivity and saving of precious time in tilling the land. This means that more land could be tilled in the same amount of time. This, combine with wet rice cultivation and the technique of paddy transplantation, increased the productivity. The yield per acre in case of wet rice cultivation is substantially higher than in other forms of agriculture. The increased food production could now sustain the increasing population in the middle Ganga plain. The increase in population is evidenced by the increase in the number of settlements. The PGW culture sites, generally associated with the prolific use of iron, are found in greater numbers (700) in the Doab area as compared with the more westerly (Haryana and Punjab) region. And it is generally believed that a substantial increase in population is a prerequisite for the emergence of cities anywhere. The whole process was apparent in the Ganga Valley. Several studies have shown that the number and size of settlements continuously increased during the first millennium BC.

ploughshare

          However, archaeologists and historians differ on the question of the prime mover which precipitated the change. The story of Videgha Mathava and his priest Gotama Rahugana contained in the Shatapatha Brahmana suggest an eastward movement of peoples from the Sarasvati Valley, establishing settlements, cleaning forests, and cultivating freshly cleared land.

          Archaeologically speaking, with the sixth century BC begins Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) phase distinguished by iron object for purposes of both war and production, and punch-marked coins and commodity exchange. The geographical area in which all these development took place covers the middle Gangetic plain in west and Malwa in the South-west. Nearly 450 NBPW sites found in the middle Gangetic plain were basically rural settlements in the age of Buddha. Large scale agricultural settlements and the formation of a good many villages are mentioned in Pali texts. The Pali texts generally assigned to the period 500-300 BC are: Nikayas, Suttanipata and portions of Vinay Pitaka. These texts should be considered in conjunction with the Ashtadhyayi of Panini which is placed between 500 BC and 400 BC. Further many Grihyasutras and Dharmasutras, particularly those of Apastamba, are considered contemporary with Panini. The Shrautsutras also belong to pre-Mauryan times. The early Pali texts refer to the use of iron for purposes of cultivation. Ayanagala (iron ploughshare), Phala (share), Ayokuta (hammer), Ayoghana (hammer), etc. are mentioned in early Pali texts. Ayoghana and ayovikara kushi (iron ploughshare) also appear in Panini’s Ashtadhyayi. Sugarcane, mustard, paddy seedlings – all need deep and continuous ploughings which could be done with the use of iron implements only. Moreover such implements have been excavated at Atranjikhera, Ropar, Jakhera, Kaushambi, Sonpur (Gaya), Raghuasoi (Vaishali), Rajghat (Varanasi) etc. However the number of iron tools and implements is not very large which is due to two factors. Firstly, the moist nature of soil and Secondly, lack of excavations of the rural settlements.

          By 500 BC the people of middle Gangetic plain had come to utilize the rich iron mines of Singhbhum. The term such as bhastra (Panini) and bhasta (Pali texts) suggest that bellows made of lether were in use in the age of the Buddha. The use of Punchmarked silver coins, as early as 500 BC, and the construction of large-scale wooden structures also demonstrate the use of iron tools such as Kuthari (chisels), Vasi (adzes) and aragga (Saw).

On the whole, the agricultural operations had become quite elaborate. Fields were divided according to their productivity. Irrigation was widely practiced and the practice of keeping the land fallow was known. People came to have an agricultural calendar based on six seasons and 27nakshartas. Some new plants and fruit trees were utilized such as mango,Shala, Jambu, Madhuka and Palasha. Supplemented by various types of handicrafts, mentioned in Panini and early Pali texts, all these developments added to a demographic revelution in the middle Gangetic basin. Consequently, a large number of settlements sprung up there.   

          The conjunction of literary and archeological material indicated the advent of cities in the middle Gangetic plain around the sixth century BC. This is  also a period which witnessed the beginning of the written tradition in India. The people in towns of this period lived in wooden houses, defenses or fortifications etc. Apart from wooden structures, people in the towns of the age of the Buddha in the middle Gangetic plain lived in mud houses. A large clay embankment of around 500 BC has been unearthed at Rajghat. Vaisali has a mud stupa. The early NBPW phase does not show any evidence of brick – fire-baked or sun-dried. However, in subsequent phase baked-bricks were used for housing in some large settlements. Cities of this period were never planned, which was the hallmark of Indus urbanism. Contrary to this, the literary sources always talk about planned layouts of the cities. This feature came into vogue only around second century BC.

          Another feature that appeared around 500 BC is the use of coins, which is not attested to in any phase of Harappan urbanism. These early coins were made of silver and copper and are known as punch-marked coins. The coin of the highest value was satamana of silver followed by karsapana. The copper masas and kakini were coins of smaller denominations. The punching devices of these early coins bear no inscriptions. Instead, they have various forms of figures, symbols etc. These symbols appears on only one side, the other side remains blank.